TG-CD No Audio!

[Bangulo]

I recently picked up a TG-16 and TG-cd, that was listed as powering up with pink screen,
Well when it arrived i noticed it wasn't the official adapter, after studying the adapter
i noticed the polarity was backwords but it was still 11v, so i cut the wires and reversed them
and lo and behold it fired up magically, Now the only problem i have now is.
when i put game disc in and play, I get no Redbook sound, I get in game effects
and anykind of chiptune music. But no CD Audio, Also if i put in a audio cd,
It will play the cd but i hear no audio, I can see the audio meters move so its somewhat
reading the audio fine but i cannot hear it for some odd reason? anyone ever come across
this situation? also ive hooked it up RF as well as RCA ive also tried hooking up headphones
in the headphone jack and still seems like there is no sound.

Thanks for your help
Bangulo!

[Keith Courage]

This could be a be capacitor related issue but most likely it is the line out jack on the rear of the system. Someone probably hooked headphones up to it once upon a time and put too much pressure on it and broke the connections. The audio channels run through the line out jack to the outs on the docking station for the CD player. If these broke you will have to follow the traces and solder in some new wires to repair the connections. Also, to see if there is any audio at all try playing an audio disc or game and check to see if there is audio out of the front headphone jack on the CD player. This will let you know if it is just not getting to the rear of the CD drive.

Also, if you get too frustrated and want someone else to repair it I can do so for a very minimal fee.

[Bangulo]

This could be a be capacitor related issue but most likely it is the line out jack on the rear of the system. Someone probably hooked headphones up to it once upon a time and put too much pressure on it and broke the connections. The audio channels run through the line out jack to the outs on the docking station for the CD player. If these broke you will have to follow the traces and solder in some new wires to repair the connections. Also, to see if there is any audio at all try playing an audio disc or game and check to see if there is audio out of the front headphone jack on the CD player. This will let you know if it is just not getting to the rear of the CD drive.

Also, if you get too frustrated and want someone else to repair it I can do so for a very minimal fee.

Hey Keith thanks for a prompt reply, I am not getting any audio through any of the jacks, headphones line out, RF and RCA, But if i play a cd the system dash does show the audio bars moving with a regular audio cd. But still no sound.

[8bitForLife]

kind of related but a very long time ago i had a tv with a headphone jack and i had the same problem so eventually i took the case off and re-soldiered the jack and my tv's audio worked again.

[Bangulo]

I checked the solder joints for the cd player and them seem to be okay, all jacks no i am pretty sure they are okay, When i change tracks when i have it  removed from the dock playing an audio cd. I can hear it make a slight sound, like most cd players make when you change tracks like a faint hum for a half a second. so i am thinking it is something other then the jacks.

Let me ask you guys this. If the volume is set to zero on the cd player does that effect the volume to the dock? ive never own one of these ever so i am taking assumptions of its functionality

[Keith Courage]

It sounds like this is either capacitor or resister related then or still maybe some broken traces. Also, is it possible that the lens might just need adjustment? Does the cd player change to all tracks well even without sound? The front volume knob does not affect the audio out for the system. It only changes the volume of the front headphone port.

[Bangulo]

It sounds like this is either capacitor or resister related then or still maybe some broken traces. Also, is it possible that the lens might just need adjustment? Does the cd player change to all tracks well even without sound? The front volume knob does not affect the audio out for the system. It only changes the volume of the front headphone port.

Well it seems to play all tracks fine, You really don't hear it struggle to read, like usually you can hear when a laser is having a hard time reading you here like this fluttery sound or some kinda ticking, I don't hear anything of the sort, game loadtimes are also very good. so i am not suspecting it to be the pickup, Ill have to really study the traces on here and see what i can get. Do you know where i can pull audio from before any of the traces?

[Bangulo]

It sounds like this is either capacitor or resister related then or still maybe some broken traces. Also, is it possible that the lens might just need adjustment? Does the cd player change to all tracks well even without sound? The front volume knob does not affect the audio out for the system. It only changes the volume of the front headphone port.

Well it seems to play all tracks fine, You really don't hear it struggle to read, like usually you can hear when a laser is having a hard time reading you here like this fluttery sound or some kinda ticking, I don't hear anything of the sort, game loadtimes are also very good. so i am not suspecting it to be the pickup, Ill have to really study the traces on here and see what i can get. Do you know where i can pull audio from before any of the traces? 

hey keith was wondering if you could get back to me on this, Also even if the caps still seem okay? would it be that they could still be bad? i don't really seen any bulging or anything like that.

[Keith Courage]

There is really no way to tell from looking at a cap to know if it is bad. Yes, some caps to bulge when they leak but others will just leak with little to no sign of bulging or leakage. Sometimes when you remove a cap you will find leakage on the board. This problem could still be broken traces. If I were you I would take a crappy pair of headphones and cut the end off to expose the wires. Then follow the audio pin traces and check for sound at every solder joint to see if you can find a working audio channel anywhere. Start by checking the pins on the (line out) jack and follow the traces through the circuit.

[fraggore]

That's a dame good tip wouldn't thought of doing that handy to know.

[Bangulo]

There is really no way to tell from looking at a cap to know if it is bad. Yes, some caps to bulge when they leak but others will just leak with little to no sign of bulging or leakage. Sometimes when you remove a cap you will find leakage on the board. This problem could still be broken traces. If I were you I would take a crappy pair of headphones and cut the end off to expose the wires. Then follow the audio pin traces and check for sound at every solder joint to see if you can find a working audio channel anywhere. Start by checking the pins on the (line out) jack and follow the traces through the circuit.

thanks Keith, this is what i was wondering if this would work. thanks for confirming! You're the man! I know you offered to fix it, But i am stubborn on fixing it my self. If i give up ill hand it to you haha

[Bangulo]

Well After trying that suggestion, I still couldnt seem to get any audio output. Just a good amount of sparks haha, A suggestion to anyone who is trying this. To maybe cut the bare wire really short and then tin the tips that way no bare wire gets loose onto other solder joints. I also noticed that the track light and repeat light faintly flicker? is this normal? After noticing that i am suspecting it to be the caps

[OldMan]

Thread mthe wire through a needle, the tape the connection. Just like a real probe

[Bangulo]

Al

Thread mthe wire through a needle, the tape the connection. Just like a real probe

also great tip!